I disagree, Chris. I think Nathan's use easily fits use cases 2 and 3 as
set forth here:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/unique
Additionally, if, to Nathan, this set of circumstances--while
repeatable--are the only to produce this specific set of feelings, one
could argue that the pleasure is indeed 'unique' in the sense of case 1.
("Unique" being descriptive of "pleasure" as used by Nathan here and not of
the circumstances causing that pleasure.)
One of the real pleasures of English, I'd argue, is that it easily lends
itself to ambiguity and nuance, while being just as useful in crafting
statements that are specific and strict in meaning. Public school (or
grammar school) 'proper' English--as taught--can be a guide or a goad.
Either way, it's only a static description of the state of a living,
evolving entity at one point in time. An entity that cannot be constrained
by that description.
On Sun, Mar 1, 2015 at 6:38 AM, ChrisB <ftog@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> ‘Unique' means one, no other, Chuck. If he’s done it before you can’t
> call it unique. And it caused me no confusion (otherwise I should have
> admitted confusion :-)), but it’s a misuse of the word.
>
> And misuse of words like ‘unique’ or ‘literally’ robs the language of
> powers of expression. The more we abuse the language, its vocabulary and
> its grammar, the less expressive it is possible to be – without having
> constantly to explain your words. And superfluous explanation is what we
> find people doing because the more words we lose to abuse, the more
> ambiguous become those words.
>
> That’s all I have to say about that . . . ;-)
>
> Chris
>
> > On 1 Mar 2015, at 14:08, Chuck Norcutt <chucknorcutt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> wrote:
> >
> > I don't see any problem as Nathan has phrased it. Lunch at Hilarion's
> house is unique as is the related pleasure of enjoying the meal and
> friends. But the experience is not unique since he's done it before. How
> would you rephrase it to separate those things? IMHO, too much linguistic
> work is required for a minor point which caused no confusion in my mind.
> >
> > Chuck Norcutt
>
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